Homily for 26 Nov 2015 Thanksgiving Day

26 Nov 2015

Thanksgiving Day (Daily Mass Readings)

You know, the “gospel” means “good news.”  And, yet, it might be a little hard to see the “good news” in today’s reading from Luke.  Jesus talks about “desolation” and “fleeing to the mountains.”  There’s a “time of punishment” and “terrible calamity” that will come upon the earth.  “People will die of fright;” there will be “woe” and “wrathful judgment” at the Second Coming of Christ.

But the “good news” comes through in the end.  Jesus says: “When these signs begin to happen, stand erect and raise your heads because your redemption is at hand.”  “Stand up,” he says; not in fear, but with faith and courage.  The fulfillment of our human desires, the fulfillment of our faith in God, the fulfillment of our desires for peace and happiness will happen. 

Sometimes the images from Scripture put us in the lions’ den—into a place to be feared.  But Jesus says, “Don’t be afraid.  Why be afraid?  Just have faith in me.”  Look at Daniel.  We don’t hear a word from him in Scripture while he’s in the lions’ den.  And yet, we know he’s going to be just fine.  Of course, we know the end of that story—but even if we didn’t know the end of the story, we’d still know in our hearts that Daniel would not be touched by the danger.  And that’s because he’s a man of deep faith; faith is like a shield and a weapon for him. 

It’s ironic, though, that King Darius—who’s not locked in with a bunch of lions, who is the king and has a lot of power—is just terrified of what could happen to Daniel.  King Darius didn’t have any faith at all in God, and so fear just consumed him.  When Jesus starts talking about judgment and punishment and fear, he’s just talking about what naturally happens to the unfaithful.  They don’t have a shield or a weapon against fear.

But that’s not us, is it?  No, we’re the faithful.  And so, when life seems to be falling apart around us—whether that’s terrorism or political corruption or the cultural diseases that infect society today, or shaky finances or relationships, or whatever—when all that’s happening, Jesus asks: “Why be afraid?  Don’t be afraid, my faithful people.”  The “good news” Jesus gives us is that faith is more powerful than fear.  Thanks be to God for the gift of faith.

Of course, none of us has perfect faith.  None of us is like the Prophet Daniel.  But, thankfully, none of us like King Darius who had no faith at all.  And so, as much as we thank God for the gift of faith—the gift that keeps us grounded in what’s truly good and true—we also thank God for his gift of mercy.  To the faithful, God is very merciful.  If we ever forget that, we need only remember all the Saints in heaven who were once sinners just like us.  And we can remember all our loved ones and friends who have gone before us—in faith—and have died into the arms of God.  They were sinners, too, just like us.

On this Day of Thanksgiving—in spite of the things that aren’t quite right in the world—we come here in faith to give thanks to God for the gift of our faith—the gift that makes us rise above the storms of life; the gift that is a shield and a weapon against fear; the gift that keeps us in the Sacred Heart of God today and always.